Improvement in processes of coating billiard-balls, knife-handles



[UNITED STATES.

Pfri-,ffrE1-t-r OFFICE' i JOHN WHYATT; .1R-or ALBANY, 'N EW vous.

mrnovrmr'nrm Paofcl-:s'srs oficotmc Buinen-BALLS. KNiFE-HAND'LEMND orario-ARTICLES@ Specification fornxing part of Letters Patent No. 114,945, dated May 16, 18 71.'

To all whom it mcg/concern:

Be-tlmown' that LJOHN W. H ATT, Jr., of the city and county of .Albany. and State' of New York, have inventedy a new and Improved Process'of Coating and Beautifying the Snrfa'ces of Billiard f Balls, Knife-Handles,aud other articles; and l do -herebydeclare that the following is affnll, clear, and .exact (iescription thereoreiereuce being` had to the accompanying drawings, making part 'of this specicatiom-inwhich-F Figure 1, Sheet 1 ,1s a sectional' view ofa ball which has beenj coated bygmy improved process. Fig. 2, Sheet 1, is a sectional; view of a lrnife-handle.v4 similarly coated. Fig; 1,2 Sheet 2,.is a perspective view of mymolding apparatus. vj'I*`ig.2,-Sheet 2, is a vtop .view of the same. Fig. grsheet 2, Visa vertical see. o through the centen.

This inventionisi designed of substances or' compoundsl not susceptible of receivingor retaining a line color and polf ish; and itvcon'sists in the means used for holding the article-tof be vcoated een trally-.in

the mold,aqd in giving a vent'fto the` mold while the.` coating .isheiug forced upon the article in the molds. r

The following is a description of Vthe best `xm'aansknown ,to meforqcarx'fyug my jinven. 'tioninto effect- 1 Inthe accompanying .drt \.v'ving's,l I have represented a hall, and' alsoa knifeihandle, 4having the su'rtaces .prepared 'by' my improved process; but I do noticoniine gny'invcntion to these-two' articles alone', as ,a ygreat variety of"` articles or-gobje'cts, iliade of an inferior'su bV stance, maybe .sixnilarlytreated and their surf faces heantiiied, and .to represent a 'superior substanee,as'ivory. or `the most expensive woods. :j Y I 'prepare :the collodion by-mixing sufficient alcohol and'etherjwithjgun-cotton to make a thick V"plastic mass, somethnglike the consistency of dough, andth'eu mold it upon ticle to he coatedtherewith.l

.Toenabxeotners Skilled in the aft :c make- ,and' use 'my invention, I will proceed to de# scribe its construction andoperation.

. The apparatus which I'constr'uct for `the purpose of moldingthe collodicn upcn 'thelespecially for. beautifying and .renderin'g'very hard and, durl able the surfaces of articles which are made the ara; F Vit'isfcertain that the article in .the-lnoldfhas surfaces 'of articles, consist'sof a cylinder, A, plunger, B,'n0zzle or. conduit U, mold D,-setscrews or adjustable pins d d d d, and vent E J tus ofany sui-table metal 'onother material .possessing the requisite strength. It should many tous perfsquareinch.

' The cylinder A should bemade of suiiicieut capacity-to contain all the plastic collodionY required for molding-during anv entire day, or

4such other period as maybe desired. The

cylinder is made as nearly airtight as possi'- 'ticle to he coated.

The-plunger B'should fit closely withintlie .cylinder gA, so that when the collodion is the head-piece a', it will not pass between the lplunger' and walls of the cylinder during' the process ot" molding. 'The moldl) sho ld he .'made tight in its'joints,'so that ione t' the collodion can be forced through the joints.

nshould -he as small in the parts. which pass within the mold aspossible, so "that they have beingl'forced'arcund'its :iurfacc. 0n this account, in'most instances I make these. plus of steel. When made of steel and very-small, say, one-eighth o f an inch in diameter, or less,` they do not displace much `of the'compositiou,` and when they are -\vithdrawn, thecmnposi-l viously occupied by thepins.

In the mold D I construct a'gveu t',fl1l, and locate it as nearly opposite the inletor contion can easilybe forced into' the spacesprf the mold employd,) sothat the mold will he '..llled as 'completely ras .possiblel before the vcomposition reaches 'the vent. I make a plug,- e,"or tmy'o'ther equivalent device, with which to close' the vent, after 'a vsmall quantity of the collodion has been forcedl through, and after beomo completelyl covered with' the c0110; dion.l f l.

ways, one of which is represented'inthe drawing .by'lt-he screw F, the'thread of which passand `screw F. I construct-the whole appara be strong enough'to withstand a? pressure of f ble, so as'to prevent the collodion from evap orating until it `hash'eeniluolded upon the ar.

placed inside and between the-.plunger B and `The set-screwsoradjustablef pins d d d .d

sucien't 'strength .to hold the: article to be v coated in'proper place'whilethe collodionis duit Gas possible, (according to the shape Ioi'V The plunger B may he operated various.'

their surfaces. v l

In' applying the eollodion compound by my l method, I take aball, as G, Fig. 3, orany.

, other article -which may be iliade ot' an inferior substance or compound, and place such articlel to be coated;

es through the'bottom part ot the cylinder A, in which is out a corresponding screw-thread; or the plunger B may be operatedby hydraulic power, steam-power, lever-power, orv

any other of the well-known methods of operatingplungers or pistons in cylinders'.

4'.lhe mold is constructed in two parts, D and IJ', whenever the article to be molded is of a permissible shape. Article'sotT irregular t'orin will require a suitable number of parts to the niold. These vparts are Aheld together by flanges b b, attached to each other by screws b. b'; orthepartsot'the mold maybe held togetlierby any suitable or equivalent method.'

'The following yis my plan of operating -iny invent-ion: I prepare the collodion by mixing suicieiit alcohol and ether with gun-cotton to make athick plastic mass, somethinglike the consistency of dough. By mixing with the A collodion any pigment or-coloring matter that l is soluble in alcohol or other solvent of guncotton, the coating ofthe object may be given v perfectly dry 'and hard.

In the accompanying drawings I have rep# resented my method of moldingcollodion upon the surface of a ball, G; but-I do not contnemy. invention to theiucthod of coating that article, as I wish to use my method of molding collodion by applying it to ay great variety of articles or objects made ot' an ini`eriorniaterial having'collodioii molded upon into a mold of the proper form, as D. `Ifthe object be spherical or of such other l'oi-m that it cannot be held in proper position 'Lobe coated in the mold by contact with any part or partsthereof without interfering with the coating compound, Ihold such ball or object iii proper place Within the mold by a suitable number of adjustable pins or set-screws,

l as d d d d. The collodion compound, which' is previously placed within the cylinder A', is then forced by the plunger B through-the iiozzleor pipe into the mold D and around the ball G, or other object, to be coated in the mold. -If'the article toI be coated be a ball or article of which I desire to lcoat the entire surface, I provide a vent, E, inthe mold to4 allow the air and the parts of the compound that have been [exposed to the air in the mold to be completely' expelled from the mold, and to allow the composition as it is forced toward and through the vent tocoinpletely unite into one homogeneous surface around said article The ether and alcohol in the collodion are very volatile,andlf any'part of the collodion .with the composition', and a sufticieiit quantity has escaped .throngh'thfeieiit to render it certain that the object has become completely coatetLI close the vent by inserting the plug e. I then retr e adjiistablevpins or setscrevs d d d d until theireiids or points are 'even withthe Ainiiersurt'ace of'-tlieliiitild,V An

increased pressure, it that already ou .be not v sutlcient, will cause the composition ito coni pletely till the spaces previouslyoccupied by the ends ot the pins or set-screws, so that the balls or other articles will theii'be completel y, evenly, and perfectly coated with the composition. IThe coated article' istheii taken out ofthe mold, and after hayiiig dried suiiiciii-tly is smoothedaiid pOlrSh-ed uponitssurt'ace.

The cylinder serves two purposes: one is to conlne the plastic coinpouiiilin'afconveuieiit manner, so that it cau'be easily i'oied' into the mold, and the other is to -coiih'ne the plastic compound of collodion into an air-tight receptacle, so that iro evaporation ot' its volatile elements can take place al'ter such coinpoiiiid ha-s been placed withinsaid cylinder and before it has been tbrce'd in to the mold and around the article to be coated. i v

I achieve the best results by mixing the collodioii as thick-as it will flow, and its particles cohere under pressure. When the compound is made ot' this thiclfr plastic consistency,itrequires the application of a-very heavy pressure to forceit 'into the .mold,'and perfectly coat the article therein.l To accomplish this 1 apply power to the plunger B by means of the screw F, or I use liydraulicpower, steam` l power,'or any of the convenient and well-- known methods of forcing plungers 'in cylin A,

ders'.

' If it is desirable to render the .coating of -collodion tougher and more adhesive Athan it naturally is, a drying-oil may be added to it.

.'lhe collodion will adhere much better if the' surface upon which it is to be applied is 'first vprimed with linseed-oil, glue, or some o the resinous guni or adhesive substance.

I am aware that many articles have been made entirely of solidified collodion, but for .many things that material is tooex'pensiye, and also, on account of its great-shrinkage, it'

is very diiicul't to .mold into any desirable shape, except upon wood or some other substance previously formed.' lI am also aware that collodion has beenapplied as a-coatiug for articles by dipping such articles into a so- -lution ofcollodion and letting itdry thereon but an article coated by dippiiigis inucli iiit'erior to one coated by molding, because kthe latter is much stronger and durable. 'It is also more expensive to 'apply collodion as a coating by dipping than by molding, because lsocsl l Y, t'

oi' the increased proportions of alcohol and ether required to render the gun-cotton snciently thin in consistency to allorir articles to Vbe dipped therein. The purer the qualities of the alcohol, ether, and guucotton used in my process, the better the result.v

lf the article or object which itis desired to coet under my ilmgnzoved process he made of a. substance capable of being softened by moderste heat, such object or article may' be'plced inl heated dies ormolds, adapted to thefpur poses, after the coating yupon it has nearlym" of Wood, bone, or other inferior substance, and

coated, polished', and shaded or colored to give the appeernce of ivory or Valuable substance. Owing to thetoughness end other properties of collodion, it will shrink closely and adhere firmly to a solid substance, and will not be liable to crack oil' or become marred by rough usage; and as this substance is not materially injured by moderate degrees of heet, it is well adopted'for a. variety of objects which are frequently subjected to heet, such as handles to table-knives and other articles. Among the articles I would men tion are whip-stocks, canes, umbrella, sticks, pen holders, door knobs, brush' bend/lcs and backs, dented`V endfother' .tool-handles, die., which .maybe coated asdescribed'. j

-I do not claim, generally, the covering or facing of articles with pyroxylene, but rather my methods or processesoif doing the seme,

Hering thus described ibyftonjwlet I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The adjustable pins or set-screws d d d d,

in combination with the mold D, substantially as described.

2. The vent E, in combination .with the mold D, adjustable pins d d d d, cylinder A,

end plunger B, substentiollyras described.

JOHN W. HYATT, JR.

Witnesses: i u

Roer. D. RADCLIFFE; Islam S. HYATT. 

